Zlatan Ibrahimovic got his first start in over seven weeks but AC Milan had to battle into the Italian Cup quarter-finals with a 5-4 win on penalties over Torino after Tuesday’s match ended 0-0 after extra time.

Hakan Calhanoglu slotted in the winning penalty with Tomas Rincon missing from the spot for Torino in the San Siro after a stalemate following 120 minutes of play.

“It was a very hard battle, but Milan never gave up, we were a team for 120 minutes,” said coach Stefano Pioli.

“These players make me proud, for how they train and their commitment. You can see that I feel good here at Milan. This team makes me proud. And when you are so happy, you convey confidence.”

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Ibrahimovic had made a brief late appearance last weekend in a 2-0 win over Torino in Serie A, having been sidelined with a left thigh injury since scoring a double against Napoli on November 22.

“I wanted to give Ibra a longer time after his return to the championship,” continued Pioli, whose side are top of the Serie A standings. “He played a good match and this will help him find the best condition.”

On Tuesday, the 38-year-old Swede played the first half before being substituted off for Calhanoglu.

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Ex-Milan coach Marco Giampaolo’s Torino gave the hosts more of a battle than last Saturday, with both sides missing chances in a clash between two former five-time former winners.

Ciprian Tatarusanu was in the Milan goal in place of Gianluigi Donnarumma with defender Mateo Musacchio playing for the first time in nearly a year.

Tatarusanu did well to deny Simone Zaza and Amer Gojak, while Torino counterpart Vanja Milinkovic-Savic kept out Rafael Leao and Davide Calabria from a distance.

Milan’s Brahim Diaz had the best chance to finish off the game four minutes from time, but the Spanish forward sent over the bar on front of goal.

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On the bench, Donnarumma even picked up a red card for protesting a penalty was not awarded for a clumsy Milinkovic-Savic intervention on Leao with 20 minutes to go.

But replacement Tatarusanu proved solid as Milan next meet either city rivals Inter or Fiorentina in the last eight.

Title-holders Napoli are at home against Empoli on Wednesday with record 13-time winners Juventus taking on Genoa, who lifted the trophy once in 1937, in Turin.